Will Bill Belichick rest Patriots stars vs. Jaguars?

Saturday

Dec 22, 2012 at 6:00 AM

To rest or not to rest his starters if the Patriots get up big in these final two games of the regular season — that was one of the questions posed to coach Bill Belichick on Friday. “I would do the same thing that I always do in every game,” Belichick said, “and that’s try to do what’s best for the football team."

By Jennifer Toland TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

To rest or not to rest his starters if the Patriots get up big in these final two games of the regular season — that was one of the questions posed to coach Bill Belichick on Friday.

“I would do the same thing that I always do in every game,” Belichick said, “and that’s try to do what’s best for the football team. There are a lot of things that go into that. Whatever I feel like is best for the football team, that’s what I’m going to try to do.

“Every game, every week, every situation, I’m going to try to do what I think is best for the football team. There are a lot of things to take into consideration on that.”

Quarterback Tom Brady got a little extra rest during the week as he was held out of Wednesday’s practice after throwing a career-high 65 passes against the 49ers.

As it stands now, the Patriots will not have a bye week before the postseason.

At 10-4, the Patriots currently are the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs, with Baltimore (9-5) one place behind them and Denver (11-3) one spot ahead. The Patriots, who do not control their own postseason destiny, wrap up the schedule at Jacksonville Sunday and at home next weekend against Miami.

Denver also finishes the year against lesser opponents, facing Cleveland and Kansas City.

Baltimore has games against the Giants and Bengals, and top-seeded Houston (12-2) plays Minnesota and Indianapolis.

“At the end of the day, we just try to take it one game at a time and right now all of our focus is on Jacksonville,” linebacker Jerod Mayo said, “and whatever happens after that, happens. We’re putting everything we have into this game.”

Jaguars coach Mike Mularkey kept classifying running back Maurice Jones-Drew as questionable for Sunday’s game, but Friday the team officially declared him out. Jones-Drew will miss his ninth straight game because of a foot injury.

The Patriots list 19 players as questionable, including linebacker Mike Rivera (ankle), who practiced on a limited basis Friday after missing the Wednesday and Thursday sessions.

Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne threw for 416 yards against the Patriots in the 2011 opener while leading the Dolphins, so the Patriots are familiar with his capabilities.

“He makes a lot of good throws on the outside and especially over the middle,” Mayo said. “I’ve always thought he was a solid quarterback and he’s continued that.”

After Blaine Gabbert went down with a season-ending injury, Henne made his first start of the year Nov. 25 against Tennessee, completing 17 of 26 attempts for 261 yards and leading Jacksonville to a 24-19 win.

Things haven’t gone quite as well for Henne in the last three games, all losses. Henne completed 48 percent of his passes, threw one touchdown pass and three interceptions, and the Jaguars were outscored, 75-31.

“He’s had some of his best games against us,” Belichick said, “so we have a lot of respect for Henne.”

One bright spot for the Jaguars offense this season has been the emergence of second-year wide receiver Cecil Shorts, who leads the team with 925 yards and seven touchdowns.

“He runs good routes, he breaks tackles, and when he gets the ball in his hands, he’s real dangerous,” Patriots safety Steve Gregory said. “He can go up and catch it and he’s a good football player.”

Shorts has four 100-yard receiving games this season and is a pretty good long-ball threat. Seventeen of his 49 receptions have gone for 20 yards or more, including a franchise-record four catches of 50-plus yards.